The group also will have opportunities to interact with locals and meet with prospective
students of the university’s Costa Rica campus, set to open in spring of 2018. The
trip is part of CALUE’s Service Breaks program, which differs from other study-abroad
opportunities by including a service element in trips throughout the year.

“Sometimes on a study-abroad trip, you’re studying and you’re visiting places and
learning, but you’re not doing any actual service,” said Jacy Proctor, CALUE Service Breaks unit coordinator. “We are going there to learn, work and serve;
this will be our department’s first international service break, so we’re very excited
to see how that goes, and we hope it gets a lot people thinking about doing this more
and how it’s important for students to go abroad.”

Proctor said this also will be the first time many of the travelers have been outside
the United States, giving them a chance to experience a different culture and new
perspectives.

“That is one reason I was so interested in this trip initially,” said Kennadee Bsuchanan,
a sophomore agricultural communications major from Turkey, Texas. “I also was very
intrigued by the thought of helping and saving sea turtles. I am always up for trying
and learning new things.”

The travelers spent the spring semester preparing for the trip, learning about the
work they will do, life in Costa Rica and how to deal with culture shock. A representative
from United Planet also attended one of the group meetings.

“She helped us better understand the area we are going to and what to expect,” said
Ahalee Cathey, a kinesiology graduate student from Cypress, Texas. “I also have done
some reading on the culture and country as a whole so I can better understand Costa
Rica.”

This is Cathey’s third trip with CALUE after serving during the program’s inaugural
trip in December 2014 to San Antonio with Habitat for Humanity and a spring service
break trip in 2015 to Dallas where the group worked with Crossroads Community Service.

“Both were amazing experiences, but this one will differ in that we are not working
directly for people,” Cathey said. “I am excited for a different experience as we
will be focused more on the environment.”

This is the first time Buchanan has participated in a service break. She said she’s
looking forward to investing her time and effort into causes outside of her own needs,
as well as the positive effect it will have on her and her future.

“The trips CALUE provides make their participants better citizens in teaching them
to serve. It will become a great reminder for me throughout my life that I need to
continue to volunteer to try to make a positive difference around me,” Buchanan said.
“I cannot express how excited I am to begin this journey and how blessed I am that
Texas Tech provided me with this once-in-a-lifetime trip.”

The travelers will arrive in San Jose on Monday and complete orientation the following
day before transferring to their site location in Junquillal Beach on the northwest
coast of the country. Four total days of service will allow the group to assist with
night patrols, hatchery shifts, collection and relocation of eggs, beach cleanup and
reforestation, and small projects, including construction of the hatcheries.

Cathey said trips like this give students an increased awareness of issues around
them and help them better care for the planet and the people in it. By working on
this project, she hopes to walk away with a better understanding of some of the issues
facing the environment.

“Our goal as a group is to positively impact Costa Rica’s environment, specifically
the beaches and sea turtles. We know that whether we are picking up trash or on night
patrol watching nests, all of it will benefit the turtles,” Cathey said. “I hope we
can just jump in and do whatever they need, however unglamorous a task it may be,
because we are just focusing on serving and looking toward the end goal, even if we
can’t see how our exact job is related.”

The day before the group departs will include a meet-and-greet event with Texas Tech
University-Costa Rica staff and local prospective students. Proctor said she hopes
the international trip will become an annual event with even more students involved
each year.

“I know Texas Tech is trying to broaden our international scope,” Proctor said. “Even
if it was Costa Rica every year, I think it’d be great opportunity to partner with
our new campus.”

She said she wants students to participate in the trips, learn and then bring that
knowledge back to Lubbock and Texas Tech.

“We don’t have sea turtles in Lubbock, but I think that’s a great example of how no
matter what these service breaks focus on, it is essential to our learning and growing
experience,” Proctor said. “You’re not only learning about sea turtles; on this trip,
you’re going to be learning about different cultures and lives and meetings tons of
people.

“You can always relate that back to your home and where you’re going next. I think
it’s important, especially for students who haven’t been abroad before, to get out
of your comfort zone and let all of these things make you a better active citizen.”

The Center for Active Learning and Undergraduate Engagement (CALUE) is committed to
supporting and increasing undergraduate participation in active learning and community
engagement at Texas Tech University.

The CALUE Service Breaks program began in 2014 and offers trips in the winter, spring
and summer terms. By engaging students in hands-on, experiential service, the program
allows students to appreciate the impact they can have on communities and foster a
commitment to life-long active citizenship.

This year, CALUE traveled to the Grand Canyon during spring break and assisted with
park operations. During the winter break, staff and students joined members of Laredo Habitat for Humanity to build houses for families in need in Laredo and Webb County.